COMMENT Before Covid-19, most people were aware of some of the infrastructure issues around the city of Oxford. So it is hardly surprising that the main debate around Oxfordshire Local Plans to 2031 relates to housing and infrastructure to support growth targets and, increasingly, nature and biodiversity.
There is a growing demand for infrastructure across the county to connect key employment areas in Oxford city – including the science park – as well as growth requirements to support local communities, and provision for schools and public spaces.
Oxford County Council recently held an online public consultation for four road improvement schemes in and around Didcot, including the provision of the science bridge and a new bypass for Culham Science Park. These proposed works follow a successful bid in March 2019 for government funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund, which amounted to £218m.
Another government-driven initiative is the Housing and Growth Deal – an infrastructure investment that will accelerate the provision of affordable housing in Oxfordshire and help meet the increased demand for road, rail, cycle routes and footpaths, as well as social infrastructure such as schools, over a five-year period to 2023.
Evolving needs
Growth is not without its challenges and it is both encouraging and reassuring to see that the Oxfordshire Growth Board has agreed to accelerate a further assessment of impact, providing a detailed update on the mitigation strategies for delays to normal activity incurred as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The board agreed on 2 June 2020 to update the Oxfordshire Infrastructure Strategy and it is likely that priorities will shift to reflect the changing social demands brought about by the pandemic, both in terms of transport needs and working patterns. These will undoubtedly continue to evolve as lifestyle preferences increasingly govern decisions about how people travel to work and the extent to which they opt to work from home.
Benefits of natural capital
This assessment also presents an opportunity to review other priorities such as air quality, cycle infrastructure and broadband – although Oxford City Council announced that the launch of the Oxford Zero Emission Zone in December 2020 will be postponed until August 2021 to take account of the challenges businesses face because of Covid-19.
The Zero Emission Zone is one part of a wider environmental agenda. Another is natural capital, which is gaining increasing traction as a theory and a practice influencing how land is managed and developed in the UK.
Mandated as a condition of planning permission through the now delayed 2019 Environment Bill, biodiversity net gain is a principle requiring a 10% increase in biodiversity after development, compared to the level prior to the development taking place. Now that the latest consultation regarding the National Planning Policy Framework includes compulsory biodiversity net gain, it offers significant new income streams for landowners and managers. Defra expects this to lead to the creation of several thousands of hectares of habitats for wildlife each year which, according to its calculations, represents annual natural capital benefits of around £1.4bn.
The emerging biodiversity net gain market has significant potential, which should lead to a win-win for both biodiversity restoration and greener planning, but there are uncertainties such as from where advice for habitat enhancement will come, how projects will be accredited and monitored, or how offset compensation will be paid.
Balancing infrastructure requirements with environmental enhancement to support growth targets in Oxfordshire is likely to present a new set of challenges when lockdown restrictions are eased. These, combined with changing lifestyle preferences and evolving business priorities, are likely to impact future planning for infrastructure and development. However, to what extent will remain unclear for a while yet.
Richard Binning is head of Savills; Oxford office
